Happy Bee Day

I am hoping I can make 10 cards from this kit before I move on.  By my calculations, this is card # 7.  It's the Simon Says Stamp card kit of the month for July, 2019 called "Bee Yourself".   I am using a teal colored card base that has a white interior. I dry embossed another piece of the teal, and added it to some of the patterned paper from Honeybee Stamps, and put a couple of the hexagon die cuts and bees for a focal point.  The sentiment is from the My Favorite Things' set that came out last year called "Meant to Bee".

I don't know, I'm thinking the bees should be wearing party hats, what do you think?

I used some bee themed washi tape on the inside. I don't pull out the washi tape often enough and this one is perfect for these cards.

Side note : yes, those are 2 of my favorite Fiesta plate colors. In real life the plate is more yellow than orange. I still haven't figured out how to edit the colors right in Photoshop. I really do love this color combination.

Cookies on a plate, or, I was not meant to be a tea snob.

I was not meant to be a tea snob. Seriously I finally ordered the Fiesta teapot I've had my eye on for almost a year now. I got it in Paprika, a rich reddish brown. Like the cookie plate above.

But in typical enthusiastic fashion I also ordered some loose tea, because true tea snobs sniff at tea bags.

But the tea balls (infusers?) I got at the local store don't do such a great job at straining finely textured herbal teas. If anyone out there can point me in the direction of a tea ball big enough for an 8 cup tea pot (not as big as you think it is) and doesn't leak leaves, please let me know, please?

Adventures in mug cake land!

I saw a recipe on Facebook for an individual cake made in the microwave. What a great idea for those of us who live alone and don't want the temptation of a big cake in the house! We won't even discuss storage or ant issues yet.

The recipe, found here mug cake, calls for a box of angel food cake mix and one other cake mix of any flavor. Once mixed you use 3 Tb. of mix, 2 Tb. of water, and 1 minute in the microwave. In a mug, of course.

What they don't say, right away anyway, is that if you use your big coffee mug your cake will look pathetic.

Ok, it is supposed to be a petite portion, so why not go with a petite mug? In my case I went with one of the coffee cups that came with the Fiesta dishes. I never use these for coffee because they are so small.

That's better:

Plate it up and viola, it looks somewhat better. I know the whole point is NOT to plate it, just take it into a corner and eat it, but you all would like to know what a microwaved mug cake really looks like, right?

Here you go!

If you want a pretty cupcake you will have to use an oven. But this will do in a craving! And yes, I am VERY happy to have a microwave oven, thank you very much. Nom nom, everyone!

Going old school with iced tea

It's time for iced tea again, and I have, for once, gone backwards technology-wise.

I put the old electric iced tea maker in the garage and pulled out my old teakettle. The reason I did is that I am officially in love with my new tangerine colored Fiesta pitcher. She's a beauty! And a classic, too.

How many of us remember a pitcher like this in our Mom's or Grandmother's house, all loaded up with either lemonade or reconstituted frozen orange juice? My grandmother's pitcher was a light turquoise, and not as big as mine. It was almost always used for OJ.

Yes, I'm tripping down memory lane again, but I'm not ready to give up my Keurig in favor of a Drip-O-Lator just yet.

My formula for tea is 4 family sized bags of decaffeinated tea, 2 teabags of Lemon Zinger, and 64 oz of boiling water. After adding the boiling water to the pitcher, I wait until the pitcher is cool enough to handle. Then I transfer the tea to a plastic pitcher and add 4 Truvia packets. I refrigerate this pitcher, and when I want a glass of tea I put ice in the glass and water up to, or just past, the halfway mark, then add the tea.  Yes, this is very lightly sweetened, and I like it like that!

The best part is the cleanup. It is much easier than with the old Mrs. Tea. Yay, old school!

New dishes!

I did it! After years of threatening to, I bought a full set of Fiesta dinnerware, in 8 different colors.

I couldn't be happier. They are so pretty, even dirty in the dishwasher. Each time I pull out a plate, I'm all pleased with it, thinking, wow, this one is my favorite. Then I do it again for the next color.

Love it! I've used the cheap plates from the Big Lots so long that I had forgotten what nice plates looked and felt like.